Lafayette, La. – On opening night of the three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Louisiana, the Coastal Carolina softball team fell 6-0 on the road to the Ragin' Cajuns at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
CCU dropped to 18-25 overall and 4-15 in SBC play with the loss, while Louisiana improved to 36-11 overall and 18-4 in conference play.
The Ragin' Cajuns struck first as Sophie Piskos tripled to deep right field before Raina O'Neal sent an RBI triple to right-center field and drove home Piskos to put the host up 1-0 early.
A solo home run in the bottom of the second inning from Laney Credeur gave Louisiana a 2-0 advantage. Taylor Roman followed with a single to the pitcher before a Chanticleer error advanced her to second base and a wild pitch put her on third base. A bunt from Kayla Falterman scored Roman to make the score 3-0.
Neither team would break the score line in either the third or fourth innings.
In the bottom of the fifth, Stormy Kotzelnick sent a lead-off home run over the left-field wall to increase Louisiana's lead to 4-0 before
Makiya Thomas snagged a Piskos shot at the center field wall to keep the home team from adding to their lead. However later in the inning, O'Neal sent a solo home run over the left-field wall to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 5-0 lead.
Louisiana added its final run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Melissa Mayeux sent a lead-off double to right-center field followed by a Credeur single through the right side that sent Mayeux home to make the score 6-0.
Thomas singled to left field in the top of the seventh to break up Louisiana's perfect game and become CCU's first base runner of the night while also extending her hitting streak to seven games.
Riley Zana singled to right field and advanced Thomas to second base before
Keirstin Roose singled to center field to load the bases. However, the Chants would leave all three runners on base.
In the circle,
Kaitlin Beasley-Polko (10-8) suffered the loss. The Leonardtown, Md. native allowed five runs off seven hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Nicolette Picone and
Mady Volpe each saw time in the circle as well, with Picone allowing one run off three hits.
Coastal Carolina and Louisiana will rematch on Saturday for a doubleheader. Game one is set for 3 p.m. ET with game two taking place thirty minutes later.
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (Twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers(Facebook), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina at www.GoCCUsports.com.
